Liu Qingwei

(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Liu Qingwei has been a student at Harbin Normal University Music School since 1998. In July 2001, he was illegally sentenced to 12 years in prison because he persisted in his cultivation of Falun Dafa. He was detained in the Number 3 Prison of Harbin City, where he was subjected to mental and physical torture.

In 2004, in order to cover up their crimes of persecuting practitioners, Heilongjiang Province Judicature Bureau authorities planned to make the Number 3 Prison of Harbin City a "model prison," which is a prison used to deceive visitors from both inside and outside the country. On July 1, 2004, the persecutors secretly transferred 78 practitioners from the prison to other places. Liu Qingwei was transferred to Tailai Prison.

Liu Qingwei is 27 years old, 6 feet tall, and lived at the Jiamusi University Residential Area. Liu has been intelligent and kind-hearted since he was a young boy. He started to practice Falun Gong in 1995, and the practice changed him from a weak person to a healthy one. He has been strict with himself, following the principle of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." In high school he studied hard and enjoyed helping other people, frequently receiving compliments from his teachers and classmates. When he was 20 years old, Liu entered the Art Department of Harbin Normal University, where he continued to practice Falun Dafa. His teachers and classmates there also praised him. When the persecution started in July 20, 1999, Liu was only 22 years old. Since the persecution started Liu Qingwei was illegally arrested many times and brutally tortured. Because he is still being detained, we can only describe how he's been persecuted according to the memories of his fellow practitioners - memories of an excellent student being brutally tortured both mentally and physically.

It was during his summer vacation from school that Liu Qingwei heard the news that Jiang's Regime was about to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. He immediately got on a train headed to Beijing and planned to appeal there. Shortly after the train left the station, the guards on the train who were searching for practitioners found that he was reading the book Zhuan Falun. The guards asked him to go to the restaurant car and interrogated him there, after which they illegally detained him. In Nancha City, the persecutors forced him off the train and took him to the Nancha Police Sub-department. Later on, guards from the Jiamusi University Security Section and the Xiangyang District Police took him to the Xiangyang District Police Department. The police ordered Liu to give up his practice and not go to Beijing to appeal again, and then they released him.

In November 1999, as was his right under the law, Liu Qingwei went to Beijing to appeal again. He went to the National Appeal Office and appealed for Falun Gong. He said Falun Gong is a good cultivation way that benefits the country and people in every way, and persecuting Falun Gong is wrong. Liu was arrested in Beijing. Because it was in the middle of a semester, his school sent an assistant to look for him in Beijing. The assistant found him there and took him back to school. After that, Liu lost his personal freedom at school. In the harsh atmosphere of persecution, managers of the school at all levels, Liu's teachers, classmates, and his family members all applied pressure on him, trying to brainwash him and force him to give up his cultivation. However, Liu promoted Dafa, tried hard to clarify the truth, and persisted in cultivation. His teachers and classmates all liked him very much. When they saw that Liu persisted in practicing Falun Gong, they were all afraid that he would be persecuted again, so they compromised with him that as long as Liu agreed not to go to Beijing again, he could practice in the school. As a result, the school authorities agreed to let Liu continue his studies.

While Liu was in Beijing, he met many practitioners from other parts of the country. Their righteous thoughts and righteous actions moved and inspired him. He came to understand that while the persecution was going on, there were many things that needed to be done. Also, he promised his fellow practitioners in Beijing that he would go to the experience sharing conference that would be held in Guangzhou City. Ultimately, Liu decided to return to Beijing.

In Beijing, Liu Qingwei participated in the group Fa study, group practices, and experience sharing. Later on, the practitioners planned to hold an experience sharing conference in Guangzhou City. Together with other practitioners, Liu went to Guangzhou City, where practitioners printed Falun Dafa books and made some banners. During that time, Liu worked together with Ding Yan, a practitioner who was later tortured to death. Right before the experience sharing conference was held, the persecutors found where the practitioners were staying. They arrested all the practitioners who were doing preparation work for the conference and held them in a detention center in Guangzhou City.

In December 1999, persecutors from the Xiangyang District Police Station (in Jiamusi City) extorted 6,000 yuan from Liu's family members. They told them that if they did not pay the money, they would not bring Liu back from Guangzhou City. Also, a male guard took over 1000 yuan from Liu Qingwei (the money was given to him by a fellow practitioner) and put the money into his own pocket. After the perpetrators escorted Liu back from Guangzhou City, they detained him in the Jiamusi Detention Center for more than a month. Before they released Liu, they extorted another 3,000 yuan from his family and forced him to write a "Guarantee Statement." After Liu returned home, he learned that his University had dismissed him. Liu went back to the school and asked the authorities to let him continue his studies, but the authorities told him that he had to write a "Guarantee Statement" and some articles slandering Falun Gong. Liu firmly refused. Liu had to love the school he loved so much.

In order to further clarify the truth to more people, Liu Qingwei participated in materials production work in Harbin City. He printed truth-clarifying fliers. Later on, a fellow practitioner was arrested. Subjected to brutal torture, the practitioner was forced to tell his captors Liu's name. As a result the truth-clarifying materials production site was exposed, and Liu was forced to leave Harbin City and return to his home in Jiamusi City.

In December 2000, Li Changfeng and Gong Gu from the Security Section of Jiamusi University tricked Liu into going to the university, where the school authorities sent him to Xiangyang District Police Department. Without letting Liu and his family members know ahead of time, the perpetrators transferred Liu to the Number 1 Division of Harbin City Police Department. The persecutors covered Liu's eyes and handcuffed him in the "forced backbend" position, also know as "carrying a sword on the back" (This is a very painful form of torture in which one arm is pulled down the back behind the head and the other hand meets it from the lower back. The two hands are cuffed together to cause unbearable pain). Furthermore, the guards used a baton to pry on the handcuffs to make the pain even worse. They tried to force Liu to give them information about the truth-clarifying materials production site he worked at. Liu said nothing. However, he later told the police that he was responsible for everything in order to protect other practitioners involved. (Note from the author: from the perspective of cultivation, I think this action also acknowledged the persecution.)

After much effort, Liu's family members learned that he was detained in Daowai Detention Center in Harbin City, where he was given only two half cooked, gritty, and mildewed steamed rolls, with a smelly pickled vegetable to eat. Sometimes he was given some "soup," with bugs floating on the top, a few vegetable leaves in the middle, and dirt and sand covering the bottom of the bowl. Each inmate was given one bottle of water from the faucet (note: in many places in China, water directly from the faucet is not at all drinkable) and a small piece of newspaper for toilet tissue. The conditions in the detention center were extremely bad. Lice were everywhere and most detainees caught scabies. Liu Qingwei also caught scabies. They itched incomparably and bled. Even Liu's buttocks was covered with them, so for several months, he could only lie on his side. If a detainee mentioned the word "Falun Gong," the guards immediately beat that detainee. Practicing the exercises was not allowed at all.

Every month, guards in the detention center mailed a "notice" to the detainees' family members asking for money. They claimed that the money (300 yuan to 400 yuan per person) was used to buy necessities for the detainees. In 8 months, Liu Qingwei's family members sent 3,000 yuan to the detention center, yet it was said that Liu got nothing. Daowai Detention Center does not allow family members of the detainees to send them food or daily consumables - this way the detainees are forced to buy them from the shop inside the detention center. Once Liu's family members were able to send things in, yet the head prisoner confiscated them. Because Liu's family members were not allowed to visit him, they did not know Liu's situation. In an effort to get rid of lice, infected clothes were burned and prisoners were deloused, leaving Liu nothing to wear. As a result he was forced to cover his body with a blanket until some kind-hearted guards gave him some clothes.

In July 2001, without informing their family members, Nangang Court illegally tried Liu Qingwei and six other practitioners. Several of them were Liu's teachers and classmates from Harbin Normal University.

Liu made the following statement to the court: "I am a college student. I have not done anything bad. Practicing Falun Gong improved my health. I followed the principle of 'Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance' and tried to become a better person. In doing this, I have not committed any wrongdoing or crimes." The judge tried to prevent him from saying these words in public, asking him only to declare his attitude toward Falun Gong. Liu raised his voice and said, "Falun Dafa is good, Falun Dafa is a righteous cultivation way!" Then the judge asked the practitioners one by one to take a stand to Falun Gong. At that time, many people were observing the proceedings. Before the trial was over, many of the spectators spoke up loudly together, saying, "Falun Dafa is good. Falun Dafa is a righteous cultivation way!" The voices of justice overwhelmed the evil. Seeing that the illegal trial could not continue, judge Yuan Quansheng announced that the trial would stop. Later on, the persecutors chose another date and held the trial in secret. They then illegally sentenced Liu Qingwei, his teachers, and his classmates to long prison terms of from 12 to 15 years. The sentenced practitioners were then sent to the Number 3 Prison of Harbin City. In 2002, judge Yuan Quansheng met his karmic retribution; he was diagnosed with liver cancer, and then bone marrow cancer. He died at the age of 41.

In the Number 3 Prison of Harbin City, each practitioner was assigned a guard, who was responsible for "brainwashing" the practitioner. Each guard's rewards were linked to his/her performance in "transforming" the practitioner. Failing to "transform" the practitioner would result in salary reduction, bonus cancellation, and degradation of rank. If the practitioners remained alive after a while, the head of the local 610 Office, Chen Shuhai, would then tempt the inmates with term reductions and let them beat practitioners wildly. As a result, cries of misery could be heard everywhere in the building where practitioners were detained. The prison was shrouded in terror. By April 2004, it had been verified that three practitioners were beaten to death in the prison.

During the "training" meeting for new inmates, Liu loudly said, "Falun Dafa is good." The persecutors then put him inside a small cell, where guards tortured him brutally in an attempt to force him to write articles slandering Dafa and "Guarantee Statements" (guaranteeing he would not practice or say aloud "Falun Dafa is good"). After more than 10 days of torture, Liu could no longer bear it, so he compromised with the persecutors against his will. He was released from the small cell afterward.

Persecutors in the Number 3 Prison of Harbin City force the detained practitioners to read slanderous articles from newspapers and magazines and watch video programs that slander Falun Dafa. They also force the practitioners to write reports about their understanding of being transformed, and force the practitioners to take exams in which the only correct answers are those that slander Falun Gong. Each practitioner is under the close monitoring of two assigned inmates around the clock. In addition to the mental torture, practitioners are also used as slave laborers, making handicraft pieces using toothpicks, making false eyelashes, polishing pearls (using a machine) and making pearl necklaces. Practitioners' hands were injured from the extensive rubbing. Subjected to mental and physical torture, Liu Qingwei was forced to write a "Transforming Statement" against his will. Such an excellent young man's freedom and right to study were taken away, and his mind was subjected to the most brutal tortures.

In 2004, in order to cover up its crimes of persecuting practitioners, Heilongjiang Province Judicial Bureau planned to make the No. 3 Prison of Harbin City a "model prison;" a prison used to deceive visitors from both inside and outside the country. On July 1, 2004, the persecutors secretly transferred 78 practitioners from the prison to other places. After much effort by family members of the detained practitioners, they finally learned that the practitioners had been transferred to Mudanjiang Prison, Daqing Prison, and Tailai Prison.

Liu Qingwei was transferred to Tailai Prison, where he was only given cold water to drink. The air in the workroom is very dusty, and the working conditions are extremely poor. Inmates are forced to work from 5AM until 7PM every day. In order to get more work done, the perpetrators send lunch to the workroom, and all the workers have to eat their lunches in the dusty air. Once they finish their lunch, they immediately go back to work, because if they don't finish their assigned quotas, the persecutors will put handcuffs and shackles on them.

Guards in Tailai Prison treat steadfast practitioners ferociously. According to a guard in the prison, they use a very cruel method of torture. During the hot summer, they put a large steel plate in the baking sun, and then they tie a practitioner to it. The scorching sun and the hot metal burn the practitioner. As a result, the practitioners' skin and flesh are badly burned. Then they throw the practitioners into a pool of cold water.

Another torture method used on steadfast practitioners: They secure the practitioner to a support, facing down, with the support only on the practitioner's chest. The four limbs and the head of the practitioner sag down but can't touch the floor, so all the body's weight is on the chest. They torture the practitioners this way for a long time. The practitioners feel pain and numbness, and usually faint as a result. The guards clamor on the side, saying, "Let's see if you will still practice after this."

Currently, Liu Qingwei is still being detained in Tailai Prison.

Simply for his practice of Falun Gong and trying to become a better person following the principle of "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance," this young student was taken away from his school and illegally sentenced to 12 years in prison. In a living hell, he has been forced to become a slave laborer, and his pure heart and righteous belief are also under brutal torture. Persecution like this continues in China. Countless practitioners are suffering similar inhuman persecution.

12/20/2004

Posting date: 1/7/2005
Original article date: 1/6/2005
Category: Eyewitness Accounts
Translated on 12/27/2004
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/12/21/91874.html

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